Studieblad met schapen te Exloo c. 1904 - 1912

This is Ferdinand Oldewelt’s sketch of sheep made in Exloo, with pencil, on paper. It's a kind of study, a loose collection of sheep in different poses, almost like a shorthand for the idea of 'sheepness.' I’m drawn to the way Oldewelt uses line to define the form and create the illusion of volume, it’s immediate and intuitive. The marks are quite soft and blurred giving it a feeling of movement. The sheep aren’t static, they seem to be constantly shifting their weight. If you look at the way Oldewelt uses shading around the heads it almost feels like a precursor to cubism. It's interesting to think about the choices that an artist makes when they're sketching, and how they decide what to include and what to leave out. This reminds me of drawings by Van Gogh, they share a similar energy, and a love for the everyday. Like art is just a way of seeing and feeling the world.